2003 Acura TL Type S from North America - Comments

23rd Aug 2010, 12:29

I own an '03 Acura TL and have been very happy with it. I bought the car with 34,000 miles in '05.

The only thing I ever took it to the dealer for was one battery and one axle seal (covered under warranty). I am pretty handy so I do all the maintenance myself, oil change every 5,000 miles with a Honda filter and fully synthetic oil.

My TL's transmission started acting up last week at 99,000 miles. I took it to the dealer and they verified that it needs a transmission, and told me it never had a transmission replacement. I also found out that my TL fell under the transmission extended warranty class, but that it was out of warranty on time, but since it was within mileage they would ask Acura if they would cover any of it. After a couple of days I received a call from the service manager who told me that Acura would cover the transmission if I paid a $500 deductible, more than fair.

15th Sep 2010, 15:08

Well we are just another of many 2003 Acura TL Type S stories. We just picked up the car from having the motor mount replaced that was broken and leaking oil. We picked up the car, and heard this strange whining noise, mechanic came out and we both couldn't figure it out. He checked the transmission oil was full. I said to my wife "I bet it's the transmission" As my wife was driving the car home, just 15 minutes ago, the transmission went out, went into neutral and it's done. Crazy.

25th Oct 2010, 10:13

I have had my 2000 TL for about a year, and I drive it really hard.

I do not know how well this car has been taken care of before me or when it last had a transmission, but it just turned 301k miles. It regularly sees the rev limiter and full throttle shifts, I have never changed the tranny fluid. It has also sustained a few neutral bombs and shifting to second through a burnout.

I run it on Mobil 1 though and it burns no oil. I love this car! I have logged over 40k hard miles in it. I have only had to replace the engine mounts and tires.

16th Feb 2011, 19:58

I have 2003 Acura TL.

My tranny was acting weird at 93K, I was stuck at middle lane of inter state in morning rush hour traffic. Called 911, they sent a road ranger to push my car from middle lane to side, I was very lucky because traffic was moving slowly, otherwise it could be involved in serious crash.

After 5 minutes I started the car and it was running with engine light and TCS light on.

I took it to an Acura dealer, they told me it would be $3200 to replace the trans. I explained my car's trans fix under recall and according to a class action law suit, it is still under warranty 109k OR 93 months. The service rep said I have to talk service manager and will call you tomorrow morning. I am waiting for my phone call.

13th Jul 2011, 20:55

14th Jul 2011, 08:51

The problem I had was that my TL type S dropped in value like a rock at trade in with every dealer because of the publicity. Mine was purchased new. I was worried sick over mine over the trans going at 28k, and traded it in year 3. On the interstate, if the trans fails, it was a big worry. Looking back, I might have been better to have just kept it and driven it as a second car very lightly per year. Maybe a few thousand miles a year around town, not on the highway. I only got 10k as a trade and it costs 3 times plus new. I had a black exterior-black interior model and garaged. Looked excellent and mint otherwise.

26th Aug 2011, 10:26

Many websites have different theories on why a percentage of Acuras had problems with their V-6/5 speed automatic transmission combination... Consumer Guide Automotive says it was the lack of thread locking compound on a nut for the low clutch... another website Wikipedia for the Acura TL says it was the third clutch pack failure... causing particles to block oil passages in the transmission... Whatever the problem was, it seems that Acura was still giving their customers the bad transmissions without a fix... because some people were on their 2nd and 3rd transmissions.

Also, these problems seem to coincide with the TL move to the new plant in Marysville Ohio... was that it, or was it just a badly designed 5 speed automatic transmission, or worse yet, maybe sub-contractors supplying hit or miss parts... Could it have been that sport shift device they put on that car... that allowed you to shift the automatic transmission...

Whatever the reason... the dealership and transmission shops made a lot of money off that car... Also, it amazes me that many people had no problems with that automatic transmission, and other people just the opposite...